Kribbella albertanoniae sp. nov., isolated from a Roman catacomb, and emended description of the genus Kribbella

Abstract

A novel actinobacterium, strain BC640T, was isolated from a biofilm sample collected in 2009 in the Saint Callistus Roman catacombs. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that the strain belonged to the genus Kribbella . Phylogenetic analysis using the 16S rRNA gene and concatenated gyrB, rpoB, relA, recA and atpD gene sequences showed that strain BC640T was most closely related to the type strains of Kribbella yunnanensis and Kribbella sandramycini . Based on gyrB genetic distance analysis, strain BC640T was shown to be distinct from all Kribbella type strains. DNA–DNA hybridization experiments confirmed that strain BC640T represents a genomic species distinct from its closest phylogenetic relatives, K. yunnanensis DSM 15499T (53.5±7.8 % DNA relatedness) and K. sandramycini DSM 15626T (33.5±5.0 %). Physiological comparisons further showed that strain BC640T is phenotypically distinct from the type strains of K. yunnanensis and K. sandramycini . Strain BC640T ( = DSM 26744T = NRRL B-24917T) is thus presented as the type strain of a novel species, for which the name Kribbella albertanoniae sp. nov. is proposed.